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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28980162">when the night-winds are about</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat'>blackkat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jon Antilles prompts [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fae &amp; Fairies, Fairy Tale Elements, First Meetings, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:47:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,287</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28980162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You <i>what</i>?” Kix demands, voice cracking. </p><p>Jesse winces faintly, but doesn’t stop moving, pulling him forward through the curling mist of the fen. “I found a Jedi,” he says, “but he’s hurt, and he won't let me tell the general, or bring him back to camp, so I said I’d get him a medic—”</p><p>“You <i>found</i> a Jedi,” Kix repeats. “They're not <i>actually</i> loth-cats, you can't just—”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>CT-6116 | Kix/Jon Antilles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jon Antilles prompts [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941646</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>707</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>when the night-winds are about</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You <em>what</em>?” Kix demands, voice cracking.</p><p>Jesse winces faintly, but doesn’t stop moving, pulling him forward through the curling mist of the fen. “I found a Jedi,” he says, “but he’s hurt, and he won't let me tell the general, or bring him back to camp, so I said I’d get him a medic—”</p><p>“You <em>found</em> a Jedi,” Kix repeats. “They're not <em>actually</em> loth-cats, you can't just—”</p><p>“He’s <em>hurt</em>, Kix,” Jesse says, because he knows precisely how to reboot Kix's brain and wipe out all of the completely justified criticisms Kix might have. “I told him you were coming, but I'm supposed to be leaving with the captain five minutes ago, and you <em>need</em> to find him.”</p><p>“And how am I supposed to do that in the middle of a swamp?” Kix asks, that curl of helpless distress he hates so much curling up through him. “If you tell the captain, I'm sure he’ll understand—”</p><p>Jesse shakes his head, always stubborn. “I promised,” he says, and stops, giving Kix a hard push with a hand between his shoulder blades. “You’ll be fine, Kix. There aren’t any predators, and it’s not that far down. Just stay on the path, and he’s by the big fallen tree with all the ferns.”</p><p>“Jesse—” Kix starts, turning, but Jesse is already gone, jogging back towards camp with a speed that says he knows he’s about to get yelled at. Kix wants to call after him, demand answers, demand <em>directions</em>, but—</p><p>A Jedi. A Jedi who’s probably on a secret mission, and got hurt, and Jesse just <em>happened</em> to find him against all odds. If he’d known, Kix would have wanted to be called, so he supposes he can't fault Jesse for doing just that. Even if it does mean Kix is about to wander into a fen with vague directions and no idea what he’s actually looking for.</p><p>Sighing, Kix adjusts his medkit, shoulders his blaster, and takes a few cautious steps. The natives have paths built up all through the fens, narrow but stable, and the path through the brackish water is clear enough. Kix skirts a handful of steaming pools that just add to the heavy fog, then picks up his pace a little, wishing a little that Jesse had stopped to grab Hardcase, too. Backup wouldn’t be a bad idea.</p><p>Then again, if the Jedi is so far undercover that he won't even tell General Skywalker he’s nearby, there's probably a reason for that.</p><p>Swallowing, Kix taps his helmet, switching off the lights. There's a fair bit of light from the planet’s seven moons filtering through, and while it’s nowhere close to daylight, it’s decent enough to navigate by when Kix is trying to be subtle. At least, as subtle as a man in full armor can be, and Kix isn't about to strip down to his blacks in the middle of the fen and wander along like bait, even if General Skywalker <em>said</em> there weren’t predators. General Skywalker says a lot of things like that, and he isn't right <em>nearly</em> often enough for Kix's peace of mind.</p><p>“The fallen tree with all the ferns. Thanks, Jesse,” he mutters, aggrieved, because he can see at least three spots that match that description, and there's no telling which it actually is. The idea of wandering past, missing an injured Jedi and just leaving them to die, turns like nausea in Kix's stomach, and he catches his breath, turns to scan the water—</p><p>Stops, because there's a glitter on the ground where there shouldn’t be.</p><p>A little startled, Kix crouches down, scooping up a handful of the clumpy clay and letting it trickle through his fingers. That flash of light comes again, and he shakes off the extra earth, then holds up a crystal the length of the first joint of his thumb. It shines a strange, captivating gold in the moonlight, and Kix reaches for the second spot of brilliance, scoops up dirt and a second crystal just a half a meter on. This one glows pale, ghostly violet, and Kix stares at them for a moment, then carefully closes his fist around both.</p><p>Kyber crystals. These are <em>kyber</em> crystals, and rare ones, if he’s willing to guess. The Jedi must have been carrying them.</p><p>And not only them. When Kix switches his helmet lights back on, more glitters of light rise, scattered across the road. They turn down a branching path, and Kix catches a breath of relief, hurrying down it with much less care. He’s mindful of the crystals, and makes a note to come back and pick them up, but—</p><p>There's a Jedi nearby who needs his help, and Kix needs to get to him.</p><p>About a hundred meters on, the path branches again, three different offshoots leading in different directions, and Kix pauses, frowning. He casts a look down each of them, a little concerned when he doesn’t see any more sparks of light from the crystals, and then takes a half-step back. Debates with himself for a moment, but reluctantly decides not to call out, just in case the Jedi is being hunted. But that doesn’t leave him with many options when it comes to figuring out where he’s going.</p><p>And then, off in the fen, light kindles.</p><p>Kix twitches away from it, spins with his blaster coming up, but there's no movement. Just a pale golden glow, like firelight, out on the bank of a long, low stretch of water. One of the paths splits off in that direction, but doesn’t head <em>directly</em> for it, and Kix only wavers for an instant before he steps forward—</p><p>A hand catches him, hauls him back, and Kix shouts. He spins, driving an elbow up as he leaps back, and swings his blaster up to his shoulder. Takes a half-second to aim—</p><p>A body hits the ground on one knee, and Kix freezes, breath locking up in his chest in horror. But—he didn’t fire, didn’t hit, so it <em>can't</em> be him. Can't be his doing, and he didn’t even <em>hit</em> the man.</p><p>But the Jedi is still on the ground, breathing hard, and Kix throws himself down next to him, already dragging his medkit off. “Sir,” he says. “I'm so sorry, I didn’t realize—”</p><p>The Jedi shakes his head, unnervingly breathless, and when Kix reaches for the edge of his cloak, intending to get a look at the wound, he twitches like he’s going to pull away for half an instant before he remembers himself.</p><p>“Fine,” he says, though Kix can't quite tell if it’s meant to be <em>it’s fine</em> or <em>I'm fine</em>, and doesn’t believe him either way. “Don’t—don’t leave the solid ground. Don’t following anything you see.”</p><p>Startled, Kix pauses, glancing back out at the water and the light that’s still burning. It looks…closer. Bright and inviting and oddly entrancing, the gold just touched with blue and white, and Kix has to tear his eyes away after a too-long moment, something unsettled and uneasy trickling through his veins.</p><p>“There were—kyber crystals,” he says carefully, and raises his hand, opening his fingers to show the Jedi what he picked up. “I thought—”</p><p>There's nothing in his palm but two flat stones, dull and still wet from the river.</p><p>“I know,” the Jedi says, and reaches out, carefully plucking them from his hand. He turns, throwing them out into the water, where they drop beneath the surface with barely a sound. “I saw you leave the path, and I came after you.”</p><p>Kix swallows hard. “<em>Leave</em> the path?” he asks. “But—isn't this…”</p><p>Maybe it’s a trick of the moonlight, but suddenly, Kix can't see any paths branching out in front of them. The three roads are gone, and there's just a spur of earth jutting out into the water, shadowed by looming trees with tangled roots.</p><p>The Jedi reaches up, pulling his hood back, and the curve of his mouth is wry. “Sìdh Chailleann isn't kind to visitors,” he says, and it’s not the planet name that Kix knows, but he <em>hears</em> it, like there's physical weight to the words. “Come. There’s a mound nearby.”</p><p>“A mound?” Kix repeats, but he rises, offers the Jedi a hand. There's a pause, but after a moment, the man takes it, letting Kix pull him up. He staggers a little once he’s there, a soft sound of pain escaping him, and Kix feels a jolt in his chest. “Sir, let me take a look at where you're hurt—”</p><p>The Jedi shakes his head. “At the mound,” he promises, and turns his head, pale eyes sweeping the fen. Kix can't see anything, but…it feels a little like there are eyes in the darkness, watching them, and he can't help the shiver that crawls up his spine.</p><p>“Sir,” he starts, and the Jedi pauses, looking at him like something caught him off guard.</p><p>“Jon,” he says quietly. “My name is Jon.”</p><p>“Jon,” Kix repeats, and he <em>shouldn’t</em>. Jon is a general, and—it’s wrong to use his given name. But at the same time, it feels like being offered a gift, like turning it down is a bad idea. “My name is Kix.”</p><p>It feels like something settles. Like an edge of something dark and watchful in the air abruptly vanishes, and the trees around them rustle. Jon's crooked smile comes back, edged with something tired, and he nods, leaning on Kix just a little. “Thank you,” he says, and then, “Don’t worry. Nothing will lead you astray now. This is my home planet.”</p><p>General Skywalker hasn’t said much of anything about the natives here, and Kix definitely hasn’t seen any of them. He didn’t expect them to be Near-Human, though, and he scans Jon's face, looking for any hints of something atypical. Kiffar have a little more muscle, and Korrunai have a little more height, and Chalactans are a little more graceful, but—the only strange thing he can see about Jon is his oddly pale eyes.</p><p>“Oh,” Kix says, and gets Jon's arm over his shoulders a little more securely, holding him on his feet. With a quiet grunt, Jon presses a hand to his side, eyes closing, and—</p><p>It could be another trick of the moonlight, but just for a moment Kix thinks he sees black blood smeared across his palm, not red.</p><p>“Are you okay to walk that far?” Kix asks quietly, watching him, and after a moment Jon straightens a little giving him a faint smile.</p><p>“You’re very kind,” he says, soft, and Kix flushes, but before he can say anything else, Jon pulls him forward, careful, with light steps across the grass. Kix had thought it was bare earth, but when he casts a glance back, there's no sign of the three-way fork in the road. No sign of a road at all.</p><p>That sense of unease curls through Kix's veins again, and he looks out to where the light on the water was. It’s gone, like it never existed at all, and the fog is settling in, cloaking the fen entirely.</p><p>“Jon,” he says carefully, and curls his fingers in Jon's cloak. Green, he thinks. Jon is wearing green instead of the usual Jedi brown. It feels like it should mean something. “What is this place?”</p><p>“You're safe if you stay with me,” Jon says, which isn't an answer at all. “But…be careful. My Master took me without permission, when I was a child, and they’ve been wary of outsiders ever since.”</p><p>“They,” Kix says, and there's a rustle, like distant laughter, or maybe just the wind in the treetops. Except the fog is settling, and there wouldn’t be wind. “I—is the camp in danger?”</p><p>“No,” Jon says, turning his gaze forward, and three steps on Kix's boots hit grass and ferns, sink in. He staggers, yelps, and Jon overbalances with a sound of surprise. They hit the ground in a tangle before Kix can catch them, and it’s <em>soft</em>. Startlingly so.</p><p>Jon groans, tipping his head back, and Kix rolls up with an apology on his lips, ready to reach for wounds made worse by the fall, but there's no pain on Jon's face, just relief. He relaxes into the tangle of green like it’s the softest bed, eyes sliding open, and his gaze settles on Kix. When he reaches up, Kix swallows, but he pulls his helmet off, and callused fingers skim his cheek as he lets the plastoid fall away, rolling down the hill to thump against the trunk of one of the trees ringing the mound. Three different kinds, Kix thinks. That should probably mean something, too. General Kenobi was telling them to avoid places where oak, ash, and thorn trees grew together. Something about the natives, and sacred trees, but Kix can't remember it now.</p><p>“It’s all right,” Jon says quietly. “Just for one night.”</p><p>Kix shivers, though he doesn’t even know why, but he leans over Jon, not quite able to look away from him. “You’re hurt,” he says, because he can't think of anything else. “Let me help you.”</p><p>Jon blinks, and it’s like he’s coming back from somewhere else as his eyes focus on Kix again. He pauses, long and weighty, and then says, with a deliberateness that makes something settle between the knobs of Kix's spine, “If you help me, I'm going to owe you a favor.”</p><p>Kix opens his mouth to refuse, then stops. Like with refusing Jon's name, it just…feels like he shouldn’t.</p><p>“All right,” he says, and somehow, it feels like the most natural thing in the world when Jon cups his cheek, then draws him down, sealing the deal with a kiss.</p>
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